The whole task is carried out with exemplary clarity and charm ...There is no more recommendable anthology of Restoration plays available today. Notes and Queries The page layout is attractively and thoughtfully designed, avoiding, for instance, frequent run--overs of lines in verse passages. Students exploring this collection will be presented with a wealth of fascinating and innovative writing in reliable editions, and the richest sampling of the post--1660 drama currently available in a single volume. The Review of English Studies David Womersleya s Restoration Drama is easily the most comprehensive anthology available to date. Each of Womersleya s introductions to the plays are wonderfully compact mini--guides to the plays, providing information on the author, the sources, the context and stage--history, and pointing out some of the complexities raised by the work. The explanatory notes, though kept to a minimum, are relevant and helpful. What distinuguishes the present collection from its predecessors is the editora s attempt to do justice to the multifarious nature of Restoration drama. All in all ... this is a most valuable (and moderately priced) collection, which is likely to supersede classroom texts currently used. Future editors and publishers of Restoration plays would do students and scholars a true favour by following Womersleya s and Blackwella s lead in striking out in new directions and opening up for further study the full panorama of Restoration drama. English Studies
